Thoughts of Winter
by il2read
Summary: Little scenes from the RotGxPJO universe. Jack stumbles on camp. Athena wasn't the one to help Annabeth find Thalia and Luke. Rachel's Sight is taken to another level. And is Zeus in denial...? A drabble series.
1. Boreas

In New York, snow was falling heavily, as it was that time of year again- winter. The children ran out of apartments, away from the "dreaded" clutches of over-protective mothers pestering them to put more clothes on, to play and escape the homework that would surely have to be turned in tomorrow if not for a most wonderful snow day.

However, the most excitement was on the north side of Long Island Sound, where a certain white-haired spirit was currently causing quite a commotion.

"WHAT THE- !" Jack Frost banged his staff against an invisible barrier that was preventing him from spreading snow. He could get through just fine, but his staff was held back, similar to how a screen prevented twigs from traveling with the flow of water.

Suddenly, the force lessened, and he went tumbling to the grass-covered earth in a tangle of limbs and staff. Groaning, the spirit got up and rubbed his head. Just because he was immortal didn't mean he couldn't be injured. Positive that everything was intact, he shot up and perched on one of the many trees located in the area.

"Whoa..." The word rolled off his tongue, for it was definitely "Whoa". Kids everywhere were joking around, having fun, sure, but what amazed him the most were all the weapons- but weren't they child hazards?

He shook off the thought. No one seemed to be actually hurt or injured, and his job was to spread winter and fun. These kids already had fun, so winter it was. With a wave of his staff, he called on the wind and flew up, whooping as snowflakes burst from the tip and covered the area in a thin blanket of white- just enough to have a decent snowball fight in. He didn't need a child to trip and accidentally impale themselves on a blade or other deadly items. Guardian of fun he may be, but guarding kids in the first place was, and always would be the most important thing.

His job was done in a flash, and he zoomed off towards the next state so quickly, he never noticed that a certain red-haired girl was watching his every movement, mouth slightly agape.

* * *

Boreas reclined on his throne- not that it was very comfortable in the first place. Dimly in the back of his mind, he could hear the voice of Jack Frost, currently where Jokul Frosti, the Viking myth, was residing.

Of course, mythologies, as the mortals deemed them, tried their best to avoid each other, but the original Jack Frost had long ago faded, as mortals no longer feared death from Old Man Winter with all their heaters and temperature control. This spirit, Jack Frost, only received his abilities (which were still limited), none of the old nasty attitude. And thank Zeus for that, too. Boreas didn't need him intruding on his realm, not while Hera was stirring up a new scheme.

Besides, Jack Frost had been situated in America before the Greek Gods came, and wasn't exactly a mythology- so they left each other alone, win-win situation. That is, the rest of the gods did.

Boreas always helped out Jack a bit, him being the North Winter Wind, he permitted Jack to ride the winds and going as far as to allow him a bit of influence over them. It was worth it, accompanying Jack gave him- at least part of his consciousness- a break from the heavy work of being a god, mostly because the situations that the young Winter Spirit got into were so humoring. Pure joy practically radiated from the spirit- though it also contained a hint of sadness and regret. He didn't pay much mind to it.

_Although_, the god mused, _Jack certainly behaves better than Khione does_. His daughter had become rather cut off from him recently, and spent much time brooding in her bedroom or heading off to who-knows-where. Speaking of which, he nearly forgot to check up on her- for her own well-being and to prevent her from having a run-on with Jack.

Shit.

* * *

Headcanon 1: The main source/channeling device of Jack's power is his staff, and since it bring snow, it is pushed out by camp borders. But hey, isn't Jack supposed to be held out too? He's the Spirit of Winter! I am well aware of that. But the camp borders keep out monsters, mortals, and bad weather. Jack himself is none of these things, so he gets through.

Headcanon 2: "Wind" in the movie (_"Wind! Take me home!" _-Jack) is actually one of the North Winds. Jack doesn't know this of course. Also, the gods spread out their consciousness, so Boreas decided to have a small part of himself follow Jack in the form of the one wind that he has slight power for shits and giggles. Why the hell not?

Headcanon 3: Jack Frost as we know him has only been around for 300 years, since the colonial times. The original existed up north as part of Viking mythology as Jokul Frosti. He eventually faded, and since this could throw the universe off-balance (You need a deity of each season for each realm), his power was put into the next Winter Spirit- his name was forgotten, but he went by "Old Man Winter" (He wasn't a spirit- just a human with forcefully slower aging, courtesy of MiM). After his death, another took his place- this one had a few believers that called him "Father Frost", since they didn't call him by his first name out of respect. After that came one called "Jack Frost", who couldn't contain the powers of Jokul Frosti very well and died not long after accepting the title. Of course, these accidents led to the deaths of some humans and a few minor spirits.

So, when Jack as we know him took on the job, his name was already stained. Not to mention all the pranks he pulled and the occasional loss of control, the other spirits didn't like him very much. Understatement, but that will be examined in more detail later.

But due to the power(s) being handed off to so many holders, the "Vikingness" faded away through the years and became more inclined towards the Spirit Realm rather than the Viking Realm.

That was a long explanation. Just wanted to share that with you. My personal thoughts that led to this crossover.


	2. Rachel

When Rachel Elizabeth Dare returned to Camp Half-Blood, she was planning to surprise Annabeth and check out the recently built cabins. She was not expecting the sudden overwhelm of energy emanating from Hera's cabin. She was not expecting the newly remodeled cave given to her from Apollo. And most of all, she was not expecting to see an albino teen flying above the Big House with a magical branch that randomly spilled out snowflakes.

She had planned to tell Chiron right away, but with the Second Great Prophecy, Romans and all, the thought slipped from her mind and was soon forgotten.

That is, until the winter after the war, when the borders allowed a light coating of snow to fall (to allow campers to learn how to fight in all types of weather, supposedly. Rachel saw him frosting over the entrance to her cave just as Annabeth walked up.

"Hey, Rachel." Annabeth's voice was tired, and without even looking at her, Rachel could tell she had dark circles underneath her eyes, probably from the recurring nightmare of her and Percy falling into Tartarus. Her gaze remained fixated on the youth, who was now perched on top of Zeus's fist.

"Rachel?" She didn't respond.

"RACHEL!" Rachel tore away her gaze and turned to her friend.

"Yeah?"

"Rachel, you seem really distracted. What's wrong?"

Rachel contemplated telling her about the white-haired teen, but decided against it. It could wait, seeing as he didn't seem dangerous or anything. "Nah, it's nothing."

Annabeth frowned, concerned. She could tell that something was bothering Rachel, seeing as they were what the mortals could call "BFFs". Still, she knew when Rachel wanted to leave a subject alone. "Alright… Well, it's lunch, and I sure don't want to wait until the food gets cold."

Rachel looked over her shoulder one last time, before allowing Annabeth to drag her to the dining pavilion.

* * *

Headcanon: Rachel's clearsightedness is strong. This is partially due to the fact that she young, and partially to that hanging around with demigods and becoming the Oracle had pushed her abilities to the limits, and she can slowly surpass her own boundaries.

_But you have to believe in the spirits in order to see them!_ Yeah, yeah, yeah. In a way she does- she had kind of the "I've met gods and Titans and monsters and evil possessive spirits and a whole bunch of Greek weirdos, you know what? Why the heck shouldn't things happen?" attitude. Basically, it's, "Whatever. I believe anything can happen now." So, this technically means that she indirectly believes in spirits, and under normal circumstances, might feel small bits of theirs presence. That wasn't what happened, though. Here's why:

The Spirit Realm is also covered by the Mist- but it's a different form of Mist. The one for the Greek/Roman Realm causes mortals to see something within their form of "reason" or "logic". The one for the Spirit Realm just completely hides away any evidence of spirits existing, unless you believe.

Demigods can see through the Mist to a certain degree. They see through their own version (almost) perfectly fine. The kinds of Mist for the other Realms need practice- or in the case of the S.R., to believe. They obviously _don't_ believe, so they don't see.

But clearsighted mortals can see through the Mist better than demigods- this is because their brain completely disregards the Mist in all its enitirety, so they see through all and every kind of Mist. Thus, Rachel sees Jack, but Annabeth doesn't.

Now, thanks to whoever actually found and read this. Yeah, I'm only updating this copy of the story, so if you didn't read the A/N on the original... Well, you'll never know that I have something planned for the Blizzard of '68... ;)


	3. Jack—Young Annabeth

**... Don't kill me? *dodges another statue of Discord, followed by the big statue in Burgess that I never bothered to learn the name of***

**I got nothing. Got held up by school, parents, track, parents, Pangaea Cubed forcing me to help her write an original story...**

**And a neighbor found dead lying in a pool of blood on her driveway. I'm serious- if you want, I can give you her name, if you search it on Google, you'll find it...**

**I'd just like to ask one thing: spare a moment for her? Just a thought would be enough, I'm not asking something big like the ones for the shootings and the Boston bombing. Just a second is all.**

**Thank you.**

* * *

Jack frowned. That blond girl… Where had he seen her before? It was somewhere in Virginia, that much he was sure. Maybe near Burgess.

His face morphed into an expression of surprise. Of course! But she was so much smaller then, he mused. Maybe it was a long time ago. He didn't know.

Perching on top of the big pine tree he'd passed by every time he came to this strange camp, he allowed himself to merge with his memories—the less traumatic ones, mind—and relived that one time, back in Virginia…

_"Whoa, kiddo, what do you think you're doing?" Jack asked a young girl about the age of seven. She didn't respond—they never did—but continued to run down the road, ducking behind trees, with a hammer in hand. Her tangled blond hair got caught in hooks, branches, thorns, whatever was in the way, but she'd simply yank it free and keep running. Large, intelligent gray eyes darted left and right, analyzing, watching, deciphering, trying to make the best out of the situation._

_Jack couldn't help but feel impressed by the girl's bravery—heck, she was still in her pajamas!—and followed her, not wanting something bad to happen to her. He glided along easily and wondered why she was running. Even the most adventurous of kids do not simply go out for a midnight run and look like they're fleeing for their lives. He briefly wondered if he'd ever went for a run in the middle of the night as a kid—something told him that it was very likely—but quickly ended the train of thought as it reminded him of his lack of a past._

_His eyes widened as he caught sight of a monster—nowadays, he couldn't remember what it was. But, it was a monster all right, and it was set on killing the little girl. A little larger than the size of the girl herself, so to Jack it was actually quite small. Still, it was frightening to see it, and even more so to see the girl take it on single-handedly and fight for what might have been her life._

_Jack could only look on, helpless. It wasn't like he could do anything—staying down in Virginia after winter had gone had sapped some of his energy, nor did he wish to feel the unpleasantness of being passed through, like dozens of small ice-cold daggers stabbing at his heart and fanning out towards the rest of his body._

_The monster exploded into dust, and he observed the girl with newfound respect while she stopped to catch her breath. It quickly changed to concern, however, when she collapsed to the ground, asleep or unconscious, he didn't know._

_The girl couldn't be left out in the middle of the street, though. Jack steeled his nerves and took a gamble—he reached out his arms to pick the girl up._

_And she remained in his arms._

_She didn't fall through his arms back onto the street. His arms didn't turn to a vapor/mist substance the moment he made contact._

_It was new to him._

_The touch of another human being, knowing that you existed. In the back of his mind, he still questioned whether or not he was alive, that he wasn't a ghost (that'd been clarified a long time ago when he tried to walk through a wall.) even though he knew he wasn't. That little bit of doubt, prickling at the edge of his consciousness, finally dissipating away..._

_A relief._

_But back to current matters. Where would he take the girl? Jack couldn't just walk up to a house and leave her on the doorstep, no matter how many times it happened on the box called a TV. Now that he thought about it... did the girl have a home? He'd been around long enough to see how things were when it was bad. Bruised, battered up children thrown out of the house (sometimes literally—he could've sworn that he saw a kid about eight years old being dropped out the window and bouncing down the street unharmed somewhere in the U.K.) by their less-than-qualified parents/guardians._

_Finally, he set her down in a park, behind a tree and crouched down next to her. This would have to do for now. When she woke up, maybe, just maybe she would see him... He shook his head. No time for dreaming, Jack, he chastised himself. There were more important things to do than to sit here idly—such as trying to find out what to do with the now sleeping seven-year-old next to him._

_For now, he'd make sure she stayed safe, he told himself. For later, that could wait._

**Xxo0oxX**

_Jack, for the rest of the week, subtly guided the girl towards the others. It was sad that she couldn't see him when she awoke, nor sense him in any other way, though._

_He told himself to deal with it._

_The "others" were a blond boy and black-haired girl he spotted while in the air, watching out for more monsters. Jack had quickly found them battling one with their weapons—or, rather for the boy, the lack of one. He concluded that golf clubs weren't very effective, while the shiny bronze worked wonderfully in such a fight._

_But they were obviously experienced, and that was enough for Jack. The girl could learn to defend herself more properly, and she wouldn't be as lonely. He didn't really count as companionship._

_So, he lead the girl towards the others by getting her attention in other ways. He threw pebbles that landed with soft "taps" on the pavement that she'd jerk her head towards to. He rustled bushes that made her want to move on in the opposite direction of. And, in a very extreme case, he used Wind's help to push her into a small alley while simultaneously forcing away a swarm of black birds that tried to shoot feathers at him (they hurt!)._

_Of course, she'd fought and struggled (barely missing him with her hammer—he knew that it would pass through him, but still!) until he blocked her way out with a sheet of aluminum. Piles of trash kept her from running out in the other direction (and they were tall—seven feet at least)._

_He waited. And waited. And waited. Banging started to come from the alley._

_Finally, the two kids came around the corner and also noticed the banging. Jack watched as the introductions took place (He mindlessly noted that the blond kid, Luke, also called the girl "kiddo") and smiled._

_Luke and Thalia would take care of the girl. He knew it._

_Annabeth._

* * *

Headcanon 1: Annabeth _thought _that it was Athena who guided her, as a child, to Luke and Thalia. In reality, it was Jack, and after Athena realized this, she lied to Annabeth in order to 1. keep her from discovering the realm that the Guardians belong to and 2. to keep her pride and hide her serious screw-up (leaving a seven-year-old on her own in the streets isn't a good decision, even if said child is a demigod).

Headcanon 2: Reason why Jack could pick Annabeth up- if my resources are correct, Jack carried Sophie from the Warden to her home without any problems of her falling straight through his hands. This is because when one is asleep, the unconscious mind is in charge. (For the sake of the story, before you smart people start flaming for my lack of proper research- Wikipedia is all I have right now.) It is the conscious mind that believes or doesn't believe. But that was shoved aside, and because as explained in the previous chapter, there is no active mortal mind to hide Jack's presence from, there is no need to mask his existence.

So he can pick up young Annabeth and Sophie.

Now that we have that aside...

You like?

Alright, trivia rules.

1. Choose a character from either fandom.

2. Answer the question.

Correctly answered question will get you 2 points for the character you chose.

Question: The name of the eight-year-old bouncing down the street in the U.K.


	4. Sandy

(During the 2nd Titan War)

Sandy wove his dream sand through the night, illuminating the sky in a soft golden glow visible only to spirits and believers. He stood on his floating sand platform that drifted in a general westward direction, staying within the vicinity of night while most children slept. But his dream sand would make its way to any sleeping child whether it was day or night. He was sure of it.

Any human child, that is.

He blinked, startled, when his platform jerked and came to a stop in midair. Sensing magic, Sandy took a closer look at where his was. New York City, right outside Manhattan. Slow traffic as usual. It wasn't until a bird "flew" past him that he realized what was wrong.

Time had slowed down in a ring surrounding this section of NYC. A barrier. But for what reason?

He spotted a group of half man, half horse creatures galloping towards the city. Centaurs. He decided to go greet them—he hadn't seen them for about several centuries.

The leader, a white centaur with scruffy brown hair and a short beard, smiled as Sandy floated down in front of him. "Ah, Sandman, it;s good to see you again," he smiled, though it looked slightly weary. "But may I ask, what brings you here?"

_Hello, Chiron_, he spelled out with his sand. Then, he made a few symbols in rapid succession. _Dome covering a building, arrow pointing at dome, clock, yield sign, question mark_. He sent Chiron a questioning look.

Chiron sighed. "This will take quite a bit of time to explain, and I am afraid we do not have much of that. Come, I'll tell you as we ride." As the herd of centaurs got started up and continued on their way, Chiron quickly summarized the battle, the prophecy, and generally what was going on.

Needless to say, Sandy was shocked. The Titan lord had risen? And Man-in-the-Moon didn't tell him or any of the other Guardians? Even though their realm was not to interfere with that of the gods, this was too important. The fate of all humanity, hello? Not to mention that Kronos _obviously_ knew of their existence, no matter how much Zeus tried to deny it. The only way for other mythological beings of another realm to _not_ see them was to directly believe that they _didn't_ exist (ex. Zeus). Sandy's ears started to hurt again in remembrance of the time that he'd landed on Mount Tamalpais all those years ago and completely freaked out Atlas. The Titans could throw fairly loud tantrums...

Sandy wanted to help, he really did. But he already broke the rule by having a conversation with Chiron, the mentor of Greek demigods. If he stayed even longer, who knew what'd happen.

His eyes lit up (no, not literally). Of course! Why didn't he think of that before? If he did that, then he technically _wouldn't_ be violating the rules, and could warn the demigods beforehand.

Waving goodbye to Chiron, he floated upwards above Manhattan. Time for some detailed dream-casting.

* * *

A raven-haired teen groaned and turned over in her bed, suffering a fit from her latest dream. Dream, not nightmare, Sandy reminded himself. A bad dream was different from a nightmare.

Golden sand depicted detailed, gruesome scenes that were—most likely—happening right at that moment. Sandy hated it, but he knew that it must be done. It was all he could do to help at the moment—getting North to rush in during the battle was not conspicuous at all. Not at all.

But when would the Olympians stop being fools and accept that their realms had to coexist together? Most likely never. So for the sake of mankind—most importantly the children—the Guardians would help from the shadows.

Which was ironically what they would be forced to face in a short while, though they didn't know it at the time.

* * *

Headcanon (I'll post these for the other chapters too): If Morpheus allied with the Titans, who the hell gave the dream/visions to the demigods? They're kind of an advantage, and I doubt that the Titans would give that to the demigods. So, after this idea bounced around in my head like Pinkie Pie times ten, this drabble came up.

Eh. Could do better, but I lost my written portion of the chapter and wrote this all out at about 10 pm.

On the bright side, today was my last day of school! *cheers* Went around glomping my friends to death. :3

Oh, and Guest with the bunny? Is that you, R.T.?

And I've taken some of your ideas into consideration. Don't worry, new chapters will be coming... at least after I master the skill of withstanding jet lag. Meep~.

So, Sandy got a part! And... uh... Jack will be coming back... No, I didn't kidnap him...

Jack: (muffled) Mmmph!

il2read: Oh, shut up.

I don't think many of you got the whole "headcanon" game thing. So, I'll drop that and hold trivia instead. But essentially:

1. Choose a character from either fandom.

2. Answer the question.

Correctly answered question will get you 2 points for the character you chose.

Stats:

Jack—2

Depressing, yeah. After further discussion, chintz recieved 2 points for Jack because, to put it simply, no one else understood the game, so I informed chintz because xe (sorry... what gender are you?) was the first reviewer for that chapter.

This is a very long A/N. Longer chapters next time, believe it!

Naruto: Don't mock me!

il2read: Yeah, well, you _were_ very annoying in the dub. Go back to saying "dattebayo", please.

Question: Who is the raven-haired girl? (This one should be fairly easy unless I go trolling.)


End file.
